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Cosmic Queries: Hawking Radiation, Dark Energy, and Moving Earth
In this engaging Q&A episode of Space Nuts , hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson dive into intriguing listener questions that span the cosmos. From the mysteries of Hawking radiation to the enigma of dark energy, and even a thought-provoking "what if" scenario about moving Earth to a new star system, this episode is packed with fascinating discussions and astronomical insights.
Episode Highlights:
- Hawking Radiation Explained: Tony from Marrickville poses a question about the entanglement of particles that pop into existence near black holes. Andrew and Fred explore the concept of quantum entanglement and how it relates to Hawking radiation, shedding light on this complex phenomenon.
- Understanding Dark Energy: Stuart Gary Gary from Tasmania asks about the implications of dark energy and its role in the universe's expansion. The hosts discuss current theories, including the cosmological constant, and unravel the mysteries surrounding this elusive form of energy.
- What If We Could Move Earth? Thomas from Virginia presents a thought-provoking scenario about relocating Earth to another star's Goldilocks zone. Andrew and Fred contemplate the potential effects on Earth's atmosphere during such a journey, drawing parallels to science fiction while grounding the discussion in scientific principles.
For more Space Nuts, including our continuously updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. (https://www.spacenutspodcast.com/) Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, Instagram, and more. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favorite platform.
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Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/32347967?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Hello again. Thanks for joining us on
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 Space Nuts. This is a Q&A edition. My
00:00:04 --> 00:00:06 name is Andrew Dunley and it's always
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 good to have your company wherever you
00:00:08 --> 00:00:12 are in the world. Uh today we're going
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 to be answering questions from our
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 audience and we've got a question from
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 Tony about Hawking radiation. Uh Stuart
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 has asked a question about something
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 we've never discussed before or have we
00:00:24 --> 00:00:26 discussed it a million times? It's
00:00:26 --> 00:00:29 called dark energy. And Thomas wants to
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 know what would happen if we could just,
00:00:31 --> 00:00:35 you know, move Earth over there. Uh, all
00:00:35 --> 00:00:37 of those questions will be answered on
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 today's episode of Space Nuts.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:44 >> 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 10 9
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 Ignition sequence start.
00:00:46 --> 00:00:46 >> Space Nuts.
00:00:46 --> 00:00:49 >> 5 4 3 2
00:00:49 --> 00:00:51 >> 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 >> Space Nuts.
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 >> Astronauts report. It feels good.
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 >> He's back for more. His name is
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 Professor Frag. What's an astronomer at
00:01:00 --> 00:01:01 large? Hello, Fred.
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 >> Hello, Andrew. How are you after all
00:01:03 --> 00:01:06 that technical uh
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 >> Yes. Um normally we record two episodes
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 back to back with only moments in
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 between, but today it was a very
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 different story. Uh the internet would
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 not cooperate.
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 Um space doesn't cooperate either. I
00:01:19 --> 00:01:22 think they were in collusion. So, I
00:01:22 --> 00:01:25 mean, yeah, that left us high and dry,
00:01:25 --> 00:01:26 but it gave me time to make a cup of
00:01:26 --> 00:01:27 coffee.
00:01:27 --> 00:01:28 >> Very good.
00:01:28 --> 00:01:29 >> There it is. So,
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 >> yeah,
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 >> I've got one, too.
00:01:33 --> 00:01:36 >> Yes. Um, I love my coffee. I'm a I'm a
00:01:36 --> 00:01:40 nut for it. Uh, so let's um get stuck
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 into some questions, shall we, Fred? Oh,
00:01:42 --> 00:01:46 before we do, though, uh we have a um a
00:01:46 --> 00:01:47 sort of an answer to one of our
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 questions. We got an a question from
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 Andy in London uh not so long ago and we
00:01:52 --> 00:01:57 we uh dealt with his um uh interests,
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 but he he mentioned that he's a train
00:01:59 --> 00:02:02 driver and I just said, "Tell us more
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 about your job." Really interested to
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 learn. And he sent us a little bit of
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 info about his job. And I like that we
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 can do this. But I think uh you know
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 we've created um or they've created
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 themselves this interesting uh
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 environment where a lot of the listeners
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 can talk to each other on our podcast
00:02:21 --> 00:02:25 group on Facebook. Uh and it's nice to
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 get to know a few people. So um this is
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 this is Andy the train driver from
00:02:29 --> 00:02:30 London.
00:02:30 --> 00:02:31 >> Hi you guys. This is Andy the train
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 driver from London. Uh thanks for
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 answering my question. Uh much
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 appreciated. Uh just we need to get back
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 to you uh regarding um the question
00:02:40 --> 00:02:44 about trains. Yeah. So um I live in West
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 Sussex but I actually work near Norwood
00:02:46 --> 00:02:50 Junction on the London Bridge Line. Um
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 and I drive two of trains, one electric,
00:02:52 --> 00:02:56 one diesel. Uh both are about 50 tons
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 per coach. So um longest train I drive
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 is 12 coaches long. And so that equates
00:03:03 --> 00:03:06 to about 600 tons. Uh the diesel trains
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 um I drive them from London Bridge down
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 to West Sussex to a place called Arfield
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 and they are uh they've got one engine
00:03:14 --> 00:03:17 per coach. Uh these engines are pretty
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 similar to like a double-decker bus
00:03:19 --> 00:03:23 engine like 11 L turbocharged.
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 So uh longest train to drive down there
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 is 10 coaches. So you got 10 11 liter
00:03:28 --> 00:03:31 turbo engines all roaring away at the
00:03:31 --> 00:03:34 same time. Um sounds quite impressive.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:38 Yep. I've been doing it 22 years and I'm
00:03:38 --> 00:03:39 also an instructor. So, I teach all the
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 new recruits how to drive these trains.
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 Um I also do the um the DC lines and the
00:03:45 --> 00:03:49 AC lines which are the overhead cables
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 uh 25 volts. Um and I drive the
00:03:52 --> 00:03:55 electric trains over to Watford
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 um up to 100 miles an hour.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 So, yeah. Um it's good job. I enjoy it.
00:04:01 --> 00:04:04 Um I also enjoy your podcast. So, uh,
00:04:04 --> 00:04:07 thanks for for everything you do and I
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 hope that answers your questions. Have a
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 good day, guys. See you later. Bye.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 >> Thanks, Andy. Uh, I know that's got
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 nothing to do with astronomy or space
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 science, but I just thought it was um it
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 was so good of him to tell us a little
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 bit about his amazing life and his
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 amazing job. And how many jobs do you
00:04:24 --> 00:04:25 know, Fred, where you're allowed to do
00:04:25 --> 00:04:28 over 100 miles an hour? I mean,
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 >> well, you pay to do it as well. Yeah.
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 >> Yeah. Yeah. What a great gig. Jeez,
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 Andy, thanks a lot. That was fantastic.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 Really enjoyed hearing about you. My
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 next door neighbor is a retired train
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 driver. So, I'm going to um get him over
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 here and and let him hear that because I
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 think he'd be absolutely intrigued. And
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 of course, there's been a lot of local
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 interest lately because a whole set of
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 new trains are being built in do for the
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 regional lines. And uh I actually
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 spotted one yesterday out doing a trial
00:04:55 --> 00:04:59 run and it's very quiet. I I thought I
00:04:59 --> 00:05:00 heard this sound and went, "What is
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 that?" And I had a look and it whispered
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 past. It was really um amazing. And Andy
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 would be interested to know these these
00:05:08 --> 00:05:09 new trains that they're putting on
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 regional New South Wales tracks are
00:05:11 --> 00:05:15 hybrids. So it'll run diesel from here
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 to the city of Lithco and then they'll
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 pop up the um the electric uh connector
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 and run
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 electric. Yeah. Yeah. And they'll run
00:05:25 --> 00:05:26 they'll run to Sydney.
00:05:26 --> 00:05:27 >> Yeah.
00:05:27 --> 00:05:28 >> On the electric
00:05:28 --> 00:05:31 >> line, which is uh Yeah. Awesome. So, um,
00:05:32 --> 00:05:35 yeah, lots of I love trains, so and and
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 Judy's dad was a station master, so
00:05:37 --> 00:05:38 we've got a bit of a connection with
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 with trains in our family and next door,
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 as it turns out. Uh, we better get down
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 to it though, Fred. We've got a bunch of
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 questions to go through. And, uh, here's
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 the first one. Hi, lads. Shane here from
00:05:51 --> 00:05:54 Ireland, and I have a question regarding
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 Interstellar Comet 3 Atlas. I recently
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 read an article that stated, "New
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 studies indicate comet 3i Atlas could
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 potentially be nearly as old as the
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 universe itself." This got me to
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 thinking about how a comet can exist for
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 so long, potentially 13 billion years or
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 so, and not burn up completely as it
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 passes through solar systems. Even if it
00:06:16 --> 00:06:17 is as large as a few kilometers in
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 diameter, it must burn off debris at an
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 alarming rate for it to have a a coma
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 thousands of kilometers in length uh
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 that can be seen from Earth. My guess is
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 that it has probably spent 99% of its
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 time in freezing interstellar space. But
00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 even at 1% of the time spent passing
00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 through other solar systems should be
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 enough to make it evaporate. Uh love the
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 show. Keep up the good work. Over and
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 out, Shane. Thank you, Shane. And um
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 happy St. Patrick's Day, which was
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 yesterday our time. And all the golfers
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 at our course were dressed in green. So
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 um yeah, that was fun. Sent me cuz I
00:06:57 --> 00:07:01 forgot. Um but uh yeah, what interesting
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 question by Shane. Um is is that a thing
00:07:03 --> 00:07:07 that the threei Atlas could be that old?
00:07:07 --> 00:07:11 Um, yeah, the there's it's really
00:07:11 --> 00:07:12 interesting that there's new information
00:07:12 --> 00:07:15 coming out all the time about how
00:07:15 --> 00:07:18 different threeey atlases to the comets
00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 in our own solar system. In fact, I just
00:07:21 --> 00:07:25 saw one uh while we were off air um as
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 as you were desperately trying to fix
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 the um fix the interweb there. Uh I got
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 saw a new story which is about the water
00:07:32 --> 00:07:36 content of three Atlas and it's um ratio
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 of normal to heavy water which I haven't
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 read yet but it's um again it's an
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 outlier just like so many of its
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 attributes are outliers. Uh I haven't
00:07:46 --> 00:07:47 seen reports that it might be as old as
00:07:47 --> 00:07:51 the universe. Um it it clearly won't be
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 as old as you know it has to be
00:07:54 --> 00:07:58 middle-aged in the sense that uh some of
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 the ices that we see in it are complex
00:08:01 --> 00:08:07 molecules. There's um the sort of u
00:08:07 --> 00:08:10 chemical mix that we see in the solar
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 system except the the extremes in the
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 way these you know the ratios of one to
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 the other. Um, and for those elements
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 all to be there, you must be talking
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 about a solar system, its origin being
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 in a solar system that is relatively
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 rich in these elements. And that means
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 it's not something in the very early
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 universe where uh most you know there
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 was just hydrogen, helium and iron were
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 the most common constituents. It's got
00:08:39 --> 00:08:43 all the all the sort of array of
00:08:43 --> 00:08:45 chemistry or chemical elements that we
00:08:45 --> 00:08:48 are used to in the solar system. So, I
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 think it's fair to say it's probably
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 old, but um I'm not going to hazard a
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 guess on how old it is. I've seen
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 >> I just had a quick look, Fred, and uh as
00:08:56 --> 00:08:58 at March 2026, according to live
00:08:58 --> 00:09:02 science, it's possibly 10 to 12 billion
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 years old. They think
00:09:04 --> 00:09:05 >> that's a lot, isn't it?
00:09:06 --> 00:09:07 >> That's old. Yeah. Um, but you've got to
00:09:08 --> 00:09:09 balance that against the fact that it
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 does have um, you know, it does have a
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 chemical composition in terms of the
00:09:14 --> 00:09:15 elements that are present, the
00:09:15 --> 00:09:16 abundances of the elements that's not
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 too different from ours, but that's
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 clearly something uh that the pundits
00:09:22 --> 00:09:27 are working on. Um the I think the the
00:09:27 --> 00:09:33 nub of uh of Shane's question is
00:09:33 --> 00:09:37 I think his estimate of 99 99% of its
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 time being in deep space and 1% being
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 passing through a solar system. I
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 suspect that's
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 probably wildly wrong. uh because I
00:09:47 --> 00:09:48 suspect that it's more like
00:09:48 --> 00:09:52 9999999999999%
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 in deep space and a tiny fraction that
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 would be passing through solar systems.
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 And what makes me say that is that space
00:09:59 --> 00:10:00 is big.
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 >> Um it's um it's there's a lot of empty
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 space out there and the and the solar
00:10:05 --> 00:10:08 systems are yes they're everywhere we
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 see them. You know, we can see stars and
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 planets and all the rest of it, but the
00:10:12 --> 00:10:16 space between them is immense. Uh and so
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 I yeah I think it's understandable uh
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 that um an object as old as that let's
00:10:22 --> 00:10:27 say uh 10 10 to 12 billion years uh that
00:10:27 --> 00:10:32 could well have been um an object that
00:10:32 --> 00:10:36 has kept most of its primordial ice. Um,
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 I don't think
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 a lot is going to depend on how near it
00:10:41 --> 00:10:43 passes to a star when it's when it's
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 going through a solar system. That's the
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 crucial thing. How much radiation is it
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 feeling from the star? How much of its
00:10:49 --> 00:10:53 ice sublimes into space? And uh it it
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 it's a fairly small fraction I think of
00:10:56 --> 00:11:00 the total mass. I have seen work on
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 trying to understand
00:11:02 --> 00:11:05 uh comets in our own solar system in
00:11:05 --> 00:11:06 terms of how many times they've passed
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 near the sun and what that what the sort
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 of mass loss uh has resulted from that.
00:11:12 --> 00:11:12 >> Yeah.
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 >> Um but um they are falling in from the
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 or cloud. So their orbits are quite
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 different from three Atlas which is
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 hurtling through the solar system at 60
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 60 odd kilometers/s.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 Uh it's nowhere near the sun in that
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 regard. So and and it doesn't have a big
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 tail. It's got it does the images that
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 we see show a short stubby tail um with
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 the coma. So there is material coming
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 off it. Um I wouldn't like to hazard a
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 guess as to how much and I don't even
00:11:41 --> 00:11:42 know whether there's a reasonable
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 estimate as to what the size of three
00:11:45 --> 00:11:47 eye atlas is in terms of the size of its
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 nucleus, the icy bit.
00:11:49 --> 00:11:49 >> Yeah,
00:11:49 --> 00:11:50 >> you might be able to find that out as
00:11:50 --> 00:11:54 well. In terms of diameter, it's 440
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 m.
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 Um,
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 hang on a sec. It's got all sorts of
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 different numbers here. Based on 2025
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 Hubble Space Telescope observations, the
00:12:05 --> 00:12:09 nucleus of the comet is between uh 440 m
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 and 5.6 kilometers in diameter.
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 >> Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty hard to
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 >> big. Yeah,
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 >> that's right. Because we don't see the
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 nucleus itself. we just see the the coma
00:12:19 --> 00:12:22 around the nucleus as it out gases.
00:12:22 --> 00:12:22 >> Yeah.
00:12:22 --> 00:12:24 >> But, you know, maybe when it set off it
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 was twice the size of that. Who knows?
00:12:26 --> 00:12:28 Um, but yeah, I think it's it's an
00:12:28 --> 00:12:31 interesting question that Shane um uh
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 poses, but I think it's uh it's it
00:12:34 --> 00:12:35 probably all makes sense. I think the
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 the numbers kind of add up even if it is
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 very very old.
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 >> Yeah, I'm sure. And how fast did you say
00:12:42 --> 00:12:43 60 kilometers a second?
00:12:43 --> 00:12:44 >> Something like that. Yes, it's in that
00:12:44 --> 00:12:44 range.
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 >> That's nearly as fast as Andy the train
00:12:46 --> 00:12:50 driver.
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 Well, that's right.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 Yeah. All right. Uh, so there it is,
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 Shane. Thanks for the question.
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 Hopefully, we uh adequately answered it
00:12:59 --> 00:13:04 for you. Our uh next question comes from
00:13:04 --> 00:13:06 somebody else. Hi, Professor Fred and
00:13:06 --> 00:13:08 Andrew. My question is concerning
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 Hawking radiation. When two quantum
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 particles pop into existence from a
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 black hole, are the particles entangled?
00:13:15 --> 00:13:20 if not why. Uh also um you inform and
00:13:20 --> 00:13:23 educate us uh so well. So I thought I
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 would share some remarkable stats I read
00:13:25 --> 00:13:26 the other day. The surface of the sun is
00:13:26 --> 00:13:29 very noisy. Forget the vacuum u thingy
00:13:30 --> 00:13:31 for a minute. The sun's surface
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 apparently crackles away at 100 dibels,
00:13:33 --> 00:13:36 give or take. Uh the light from the sun
00:13:36 --> 00:13:37 takes approximately 8 minutes to reach
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 us. However, the sound of the crackling
00:13:40 --> 00:13:44 sun would not reach us for 13 years. Uh,
00:13:44 --> 00:13:46 I love your show, Tony from Marrickville
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 in New South Wales. PS. Looking forward
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 to professor uh the professor's next
00:13:50 --> 00:13:53 Belrose presentation.
00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 What's that about, Fred?
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 >> Uh, well, we've been doing these for
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 quite a long time. Uh, it's something
00:13:59 --> 00:14:03 called Fred Watson Presents. Um, and uh
00:14:03 --> 00:14:07 uh we it's it's a sporadic thing we um
00:14:07 --> 00:14:11 put on a talk. Many of course the the
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 mastermind behind all this arranges it.
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 We've got a place in Belrose uh not very
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 far from where we live here in Davidson
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 in the Northern Beaches. Um and there's
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 a nice bowling club there and we go and
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 they've got a room which has a actually
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26 has a great screen. Uh and um I give
00:14:26 --> 00:14:27 talks from time to time. Once in a while
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 we get a guest speaker as well who gives
00:14:29 --> 00:14:32 a talk. So we we maybe do three or four
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 a year something like that.
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 >> Lovely. Very nice. Well that's what he's
00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 talking about. Um those sun statistics
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 are very interesting. You and you and I
00:14:41 --> 00:14:42 have talked about how loud the sun is
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 before, so it's a good thing we can't
00:14:44 --> 00:14:46 hear it or we'd, you know, that's
00:14:46 --> 00:14:49 >> we'd be in trouble. Uh, but his question
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 was about Hawking radiation. When two
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 quantum particles pop into existence
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 from a black hole, are the particles
00:14:55 --> 00:14:59 entangled? If not, why not? Um, yeah.
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 So, that that's the that's the bottom
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 line. And I know you're not a particle
00:15:04 --> 00:15:06 physicist.
00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 Uh but no but doing what you do uh check
00:15:08 --> 00:15:11 it out on on the interweb and the answer
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13 seems to be yes.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:16 So um formed together from vacuum energy
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 these temporary particle antiparticle
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 pairs share linked quantum properties
00:15:20 --> 00:15:25 like spin. And so um they are entangled.
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 And that does sort of raise the
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 question, doesn't it, that um when one
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 of them sucked into the black hole and
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 the other one's not uh and it radiates
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 outwards, well, they become disentangled
00:15:35 --> 00:15:38 then because they would um they would be
00:15:38 --> 00:15:39 um
00:15:39 --> 00:15:40 >> they wouldn't be in what's called a
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 state of superposition, which is the
00:15:42 --> 00:15:45 quantum state where, you know, things
00:15:45 --> 00:15:46 can be upside down and the right way up
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 at the same time and things of that
00:15:48 --> 00:15:50 sort. So, uh, yeah, I think, um, they're
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 they're probably entangled when they and
00:15:52 --> 00:15:53 and look, I'm kind of making this up,
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 but, um, and some particle physicists
00:15:56 --> 00:15:57 might want to correct me, but I think
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 they're entangled when they're formed,
00:15:59 --> 00:16:02 but I suspect cross one of them crossing
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 the event horizon, uh, becomes
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 disentangled very quickly.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 >> Yeah, I guess so. We've got about 10
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 quantum um, physicists who listen to us,
00:16:11 --> 00:16:14 so one of them might give us an answer
00:16:14 --> 00:16:15 to that. Yes.
00:16:15 --> 00:16:18 >> Um and and how does this differ from
00:16:18 --> 00:16:21 string theory? Is that nothing to do
00:16:21 --> 00:16:22 with quantum entanglement?
00:16:22 --> 00:16:30 >> Um so string theory uh look is a is a um
00:16:30 --> 00:16:33 it's still conjectured. It's still not
00:16:33 --> 00:16:37 um a theory that has any um real
00:16:37 --> 00:16:40 evidence to support it. But that
00:16:40 --> 00:16:44 envisages pairs sorry particles as being
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 like strings um as the name implies. So
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 rather than a particle uh what you've
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 got is something with an additional
00:16:52 --> 00:16:56 dimension and that uh the suggestion is
00:16:56 --> 00:16:58 that some of those dimensions are
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 microscopic. They're wrapped up on the
00:17:00 --> 00:17:03 external surface of a string. Um I'm not
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 sure what the interface between uh
00:17:06 --> 00:17:09 quantum sorry between string theory and
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 quantum entanglement is and it's an
00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 interesting thought that you've thrown
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 in there Andrew. I wouldn't mind reading
00:17:15 --> 00:17:16 up a little bit more about that because
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 it's quite an interesting area. I used
00:17:18 --> 00:17:21 to do do talks about string theory most
00:17:21 --> 00:17:23 of which I've forgotten but they were
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 the thing the thing about string theory
00:17:25 --> 00:17:27 is you do have to have additional
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 dimensions other than the four that we
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 know about. And a lot of theories
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 postulate additional dimensions. Um if I
00:17:34 --> 00:17:38 remember rightly uh string theories
00:17:38 --> 00:17:41 had I know the numbers were ridiculous.
00:17:41 --> 00:17:42 I think some of them some of these
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 theories needed 20 or more additional
00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 dimensions.
00:17:46 --> 00:17:52 Uh and so uh it it's um yeah it's uh uh
00:17:52 --> 00:17:54 hard to get your head around where all
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 those dimensions might be lurking. Uh
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 but they're hidden dimensions basically.
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 Fascinating. Yeah. Gosh, I think I
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 opened a can of worms.
00:18:03 --> 00:18:07 >> You did? Yeah. You didn't. All right. Um
00:18:07 --> 00:18:11 but yeah, the bottom line uh for um that
00:18:11 --> 00:18:15 question is yes. Yes. They they
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 Yeah. The two quantum particles pop into
00:18:17 --> 00:18:20 existence at the same time, but we don't
00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 know what happens if one of them gets
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 sucked in. Is that it?
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 >> I think that's the bottom line. Yeah.
00:18:25 --> 00:18:27 >> Yeah. Wow. Fascinating. All right.
00:18:27 --> 00:18:29 Thanks, Tony. Thanks for the question.
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 Hope all is well in Maricville. This is
00:18:31 --> 00:18:34 Space Nuts with Andrew Dunley and
00:18:34 --> 00:18:37 Professor Fred Watson.
00:18:37 --> 00:18:39 Let's take a break from the show to tell
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00:20:12 --> 00:20:13 >> G, and I feel
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 >> space nuts.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 >> Okay, Fred, we'll go straight to our
00:20:16 --> 00:20:19 next question. Uh, this one comes from
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 Stuart. Good day. This is Stuart from
00:20:22 --> 00:20:24 Tasmania, home of the very cute little
00:20:24 --> 00:20:26 Tasmanian devil. I just had a question
00:20:26 --> 00:20:28 about dark energy and how it's
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 propelling the expansion of the
00:20:30 --> 00:20:33 universe. Uh we know it's dark in the
00:20:33 --> 00:20:35 sense that it's mysterious, but I was
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 also wondering about the use of the word
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 energy. Uh considering the current
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 theory says that having propelled the
00:20:41 --> 00:20:44 universe to expand, the level of dark
00:20:44 --> 00:20:48 energy does not decrease in our area and
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 the new area of space has just as much
00:20:50 --> 00:20:53 dark energy in it. I was just wondering
00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 how this would be possible given the
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 current understanding of the laws of
00:20:56 --> 00:20:59 physics and the conservation of energy.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 I was just wondering if you could give
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 us an update on the current thinking
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 with regard to all this and uh maybe I'm
00:21:05 --> 00:21:06 missing out on some new breakthroughs.
00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 Thank you.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10 >> Thank you, Stuart. Uh love Tasmania,
00:21:10 --> 00:21:14 beautiful place and uh I I I would bork
00:21:14 --> 00:21:18 at calling a um Tasmanian devil cute.
00:21:18 --> 00:21:22 I have seen them devour a rabbit and uh
00:21:22 --> 00:21:25 they don't leave a thing. They eat
00:21:25 --> 00:21:27 absolutely everything. The bones, the
00:21:27 --> 00:21:30 fur, and everything in between. They
00:21:30 --> 00:21:33 they um they are the perfect nature's
00:21:33 --> 00:21:38 perfect garbage mulchure. Absolutely.
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 So, um yeah,
00:21:40 --> 00:21:44 thanks for the info, Stuart. Um Fred,
00:21:44 --> 00:21:47 yes, it's a great question and there
00:21:47 --> 00:21:50 there is um new thinking on dark energy.
00:21:50 --> 00:21:54 Uh it it is counterintuitive that um as
00:21:54 --> 00:21:57 you make more space you make more energy
00:21:57 --> 00:21:59 uh because you've got to come from
00:21:59 --> 00:22:03 somewhere. Um but uh all right so what's
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05 the observation that leads to this idea?
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 It's the fact that uh all the evidence
00:22:07 --> 00:22:09 points to an accelerated expansion of
00:22:09 --> 00:22:13 the universe. Uh and that has been known
00:22:13 --> 00:22:16 since 19 1998.
00:22:16 --> 00:22:20 uh we have attributed that acceleration
00:22:20 --> 00:22:23 to this phenomenon of dark energy which
00:22:23 --> 00:22:25 is I always think of it as a kind of
00:22:25 --> 00:22:29 springiness of space um and the bigger
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 space gets the springier it becomes
00:22:30 --> 00:22:34 springier it becomes and that's the sort
00:22:34 --> 00:22:37 of standard model of dark energy which
00:22:37 --> 00:22:40 uh is puts a term into some of
00:22:40 --> 00:22:44 Einstein's theories of relativity uh
00:22:44 --> 00:22:46 which is he called the cosmological
00:22:46 --> 00:22:49 constant and it was a term that he
00:22:49 --> 00:22:52 invented in the mathematics to allow for
00:22:52 --> 00:22:54 the fact
00:22:54 --> 00:22:56 in fact he put it there because before
00:22:56 --> 00:22:58 when when he was doing this work he
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 didn't know that the universe was
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 expanding at all and so here he had to
00:23:02 --> 00:23:05 put this cosmological constant in to
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06 stop the universe expanding or
00:23:06 --> 00:23:09 contracting he thought it was static and
00:23:09 --> 00:23:12 then when in 1929 Hubble discovered that
00:23:12 --> 00:23:14 the universe is expanding he sort of
00:23:14 --> 00:23:16 regretted that And he in a conversation
00:23:16 --> 00:23:19 I think with George Gamoff around uh I
00:23:20 --> 00:23:21 don't know in the 40s or 50s he said it
00:23:22 --> 00:23:23 was the biggest blunder of his life the
00:23:23 --> 00:23:28 cosmological constant but uh when people
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 realize that the expansion of the
00:23:30 --> 00:23:33 universe is actually accelerating
00:23:33 --> 00:23:35 then the cosmological constant suddenly
00:23:35 --> 00:23:38 became one way of explaining that or at
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 least modeling it modeling what was
00:23:39 --> 00:23:42 happening. If it's the co cosmological
00:23:42 --> 00:23:45 constant that's doing this, then what
00:23:45 --> 00:23:48 you've got is an increase in energy that
00:23:48 --> 00:23:51 is proportional to the increase in
00:23:51 --> 00:23:53 space. So as the volume increases, you
00:23:53 --> 00:23:55 get a proportional amount of energy
00:23:55 --> 00:23:57 increase. That's because the energy per
00:23:57 --> 00:24:00 unit volume is constant. That's where
00:24:00 --> 00:24:02 the idea of a constant logical constant
00:24:02 --> 00:24:06 comes from. So um that uh that has been
00:24:06 --> 00:24:08 the model until recently because we
00:24:08 --> 00:24:12 didn't have any uh observations to
00:24:12 --> 00:24:15 support anything else. But as you and I
00:24:15 --> 00:24:18 have spoken about Andrew the um latest
00:24:18 --> 00:24:20 thinking and it comes from the dark
00:24:20 --> 00:24:24 energy survey uh a major survey of the
00:24:24 --> 00:24:26 positions and velocities of galaxies
00:24:26 --> 00:24:28 that actually give you some idea of
00:24:28 --> 00:24:30 what's going on on the big picture side
00:24:30 --> 00:24:33 of the universe. uh looking back several
00:24:33 --> 00:24:37 billion years in in our um you know time
00:24:37 --> 00:24:39 timewise direction as we look out into
00:24:39 --> 00:24:41 space always looking back in time. Uh so
00:24:41 --> 00:24:44 the latest thinking seems to suggest
00:24:44 --> 00:24:47 that the the cosmological constant isn't
00:24:47 --> 00:24:50 constant uh because it looks as though
00:24:50 --> 00:24:53 the acceleration is actually slowing
00:24:53 --> 00:24:57 down or reducing. uh and that's led to
00:24:57 --> 00:24:59 uh conversations that you and I have had
00:24:59 --> 00:25:01 that maybe one day the acceleration
00:25:01 --> 00:25:03 would turn into a deceleration and then
00:25:03 --> 00:25:06 we might well return to the era of the
00:25:06 --> 00:25:10 big crunch or the gnab gib. Um I I'll
00:25:10 --> 00:25:12 I'll put an aside in here Andrew just
00:25:12 --> 00:25:15 for your benefit. Um one of our I can't
00:25:15 --> 00:25:17 remember who it was. One of our
00:25:17 --> 00:25:20 listeners said the Gab Gibb sounds like
00:25:20 --> 00:25:23 one of the Lost Beij brothers.
00:25:23 --> 00:25:26 >> Yes. Um, and I I I told you uh in the
00:25:26 --> 00:25:29 last episode that I was narrating some
00:25:29 --> 00:25:31 music in a couple of concerts down in
00:25:31 --> 00:25:33 Canra over the weekend
00:25:33 --> 00:25:35 >> and I threw that one in
00:25:35 --> 00:25:39 >> and it went down an absolute treat. So,
00:25:39 --> 00:25:43 um, so thank you. Um, was it was it was
00:25:43 --> 00:25:45 it Martin? Yes, I had a feeling it was
00:25:45 --> 00:25:48 Martin. Uh, so Martin, thank you for
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 that. He gave me a really He gave you
00:25:50 --> 00:25:54 gave Fred a joke and um he doesn't tell
00:25:54 --> 00:25:55 many jokes. So um
00:25:55 --> 00:25:57 >> well actually most of my talks are one
00:25:58 --> 00:26:00 constant joke I have to say. You've
00:26:00 --> 00:26:02 never heard one. You probably have
00:26:02 --> 00:26:04 actually a long time ago but yeah I do
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 try try and throw in as much lightness
00:26:05 --> 00:26:08 as I can and that hit the spot
00:26:08 --> 00:26:10 perfectly. So thank you Martin. I really
00:26:10 --> 00:26:13 enjoyed that. Right back to the story.
00:26:13 --> 00:26:15 Uh so there won't be a gab gibb a big
00:26:15 --> 00:26:18 crunch uh unless the acceleration really
00:26:18 --> 00:26:21 turns into a deceleration and that would
00:26:21 --> 00:26:24 modify how we understand just coming
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 back to Stuart's question how we
00:26:26 --> 00:26:29 understand that you know the energy uh
00:26:29 --> 00:26:33 constant of the universe and um I think
00:26:33 --> 00:26:36 it leads you to the sort of thing we
00:26:36 --> 00:26:38 were just talking about higher
00:26:38 --> 00:26:40 dimensions and new physics physics we
00:26:40 --> 00:26:43 don't understand uh I think if the uh
00:26:44 --> 00:26:46 the decelerating sorry the decreasing
00:26:46 --> 00:26:48 acceleration of the universe is going to
00:26:48 --> 00:26:51 be properly explained. We may well have
00:26:51 --> 00:26:54 to invoke new physics that currently are
00:26:54 --> 00:26:57 unknown. So uh this is cutting edge
00:26:57 --> 00:27:00 stuff. It's very exciting. Uh and we'll
00:27:00 --> 00:27:01 just see where it goes and you'll
00:27:01 --> 00:27:04 probably hear about it on Space Studio.
00:27:04 --> 00:27:08 Yes, it it's such a um a big area to try
00:27:08 --> 00:27:11 and understand and there's there's um we
00:27:11 --> 00:27:13 I think we're really only at the dawn of
00:27:13 --> 00:27:17 the um the process of of unraveling what
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19 dark energy is all about and we've said
00:27:19 --> 00:27:22 before it's it's poorly named. It's
00:27:22 --> 00:27:24 probably yeah it's creating so much
00:27:24 --> 00:27:26 confusion with dark matter which is also
00:27:26 --> 00:27:29 probably poorly named. But anyway,
00:27:29 --> 00:27:31 >> um Stuart might be interested to go to
00:27:31 --> 00:27:35 the darkenerys survey.org or website uh
00:27:35 --> 00:27:36 if he wants to find out more because
00:27:36 --> 00:27:38 there's plenty of information there and
00:27:38 --> 00:27:40 they're updating what they're learning
00:27:40 --> 00:27:43 or studying all the time. So, um yeah,
00:27:43 --> 00:27:46 darken energy survey.org
00:27:46 --> 00:27:49 uh could be a good port of call for you,
00:27:49 --> 00:27:52 Stuart. Uh and have fun down there with
00:27:52 --> 00:27:54 your Tasmanian devils. Uh when Judy and
00:27:54 --> 00:27:57 I went to Tasmania on our honeymoon,
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 believe it or not, she never let me
00:27:58 --> 00:28:01 forget it. Um, one of the most common
00:28:01 --> 00:28:04 roadkills we saw were Tasmanian
00:28:04 --> 00:28:06 devilles, which is very sad, but um,
00:28:06 --> 00:28:08 yeah, that there were quite a few of
00:28:08 --> 00:28:09 them lying on the sides of the roads,
00:28:09 --> 00:28:13 which is, I guess, um, you know, it's
00:28:13 --> 00:28:15 unique to Tasmania. Uh, here it's
00:28:15 --> 00:28:18 kangaroos and more kangaroos.
00:28:18 --> 00:28:20 Okay, thanks Stuart. Uh, we'll go on to
00:28:20 --> 00:28:22 our final question. Hello, Space Nuts.
00:28:22 --> 00:28:25 This is Thomas from Virginia. So, and
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 this is a what if question, Fred. I love
00:28:27 --> 00:28:30 what if questions. So, if you had a way
00:28:30 --> 00:28:33 to push Earth to another stars
00:28:33 --> 00:28:36 Goldilocks zone when our sun starts to
00:28:36 --> 00:28:39 die, what would happen to the atmosphere
00:28:39 --> 00:28:41 on the way? I assume it would freeze,
00:28:41 --> 00:28:44 but then what would happen to it after
00:28:44 --> 00:28:46 that? So, um yeah, that comes from
00:28:46 --> 00:28:49 Thomas. Uh it reminds me of a movie I
00:28:49 --> 00:28:52 watched. Um and I must confess I didn't
00:28:52 --> 00:28:54 finish it. It just got too much for me.
00:28:54 --> 00:28:56 I I love science fiction, but this one
00:28:56 --> 00:28:59 just threw me over the edge. It was a I
00:28:59 --> 00:29:02 can't remember the title of it, but um
00:29:02 --> 00:29:04 Earth had to move because there was an
00:29:04 --> 00:29:06 issue probably with the sun and they
00:29:06 --> 00:29:09 wanted to move us out to Jupiter and so
00:29:09 --> 00:29:11 they attached all these giant rockets to
00:29:11 --> 00:29:14 Earth and it just got crazier from
00:29:14 --> 00:29:16 there. Uh but let's say you could what
00:29:16 --> 00:29:20 would happen to our atmosphere?
00:29:20 --> 00:29:25 >> Um it it's a great question. Uh because
00:29:25 --> 00:29:28 there are, you know, when you think of
00:29:28 --> 00:29:30 gas giants, they've got atmospheres that
00:29:30 --> 00:29:34 are uh still gaseous, well outside the
00:29:34 --> 00:29:38 the Goldilock zone. Um possibly partly
00:29:38 --> 00:29:40 because the those bodies are radiating
00:29:40 --> 00:29:43 heat themselves as is the Earth at a
00:29:43 --> 00:29:45 very low level. Uh the Earth has some
00:29:46 --> 00:29:48 low-level nuclear reactions going on in
00:29:48 --> 00:29:51 its nucleus in the center uh at the core
00:29:51 --> 00:29:53 of the Earth. And so um there is a
00:29:53 --> 00:29:55 little bit of heat comes from the earth
00:29:55 --> 00:29:58 itself uh that might stop it freezing.
00:29:58 --> 00:30:01 Um so
00:30:01 --> 00:30:04 I I I'm sort of draw the parallel that I
00:30:04 --> 00:30:07 would draw in my head is with with the
00:30:08 --> 00:30:10 dwarf planet Pluto which does have an
00:30:10 --> 00:30:15 atmosphere. Uh it's very very thin. uh
00:30:15 --> 00:30:19 uh but a lot of the kind of atmospheric
00:30:19 --> 00:30:22 constituents of the earth are actually
00:30:22 --> 00:30:26 frozen at the distance of Pluto. Um so I
00:30:26 --> 00:30:29 think what is it minus 230 or
00:30:29 --> 00:30:32 thereabouts the the temperature at Pluto
00:30:32 --> 00:30:36 on the surface uh the nitrogen uh is is
00:30:36 --> 00:30:39 frozen because you've got nitrogen
00:30:39 --> 00:30:42 glaciers there and um sort of slushy
00:30:42 --> 00:30:46 slushy nitrogen flowing around. Um so I
00:30:46 --> 00:30:48 suspect that might happen to the earth's
00:30:48 --> 00:30:51 atmosphere but there would be a residual
00:30:51 --> 00:30:54 level of air I think. Uh but when you
00:30:54 --> 00:30:56 got back to your Goldilock zone in
00:30:56 --> 00:30:58 another solar system, hopefully it would
00:30:58 --> 00:31:01 all just come good again and you know
00:31:01 --> 00:31:03 your nitrogen starts to be a gas rather
00:31:03 --> 00:31:08 than a rather than a a solid. Uh and um
00:31:08 --> 00:31:11 you could with with there might be some
00:31:11 --> 00:31:13 loss of of components of the atmosphere,
00:31:13 --> 00:31:15 but generally I think what you might
00:31:15 --> 00:31:17 have is something much the same as you
00:31:17 --> 00:31:21 set off with. That's my guess anyway. I
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 don't think we have to take Earth that
00:31:22 --> 00:31:25 far though if you know when the sun
00:31:25 --> 00:31:28 expands and we just have to move out a
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 little bit we
00:31:29 --> 00:31:32 >> that I think that's right you know
00:31:32 --> 00:31:35 >> um but the problem is as you said um
00:31:35 --> 00:31:37 it's just science fiction to think of
00:31:37 --> 00:31:40 moving a planet uh we don't have any way
00:31:40 --> 00:31:42 of doing that at the moment other than
00:31:42 --> 00:31:44 the only other way to do it will be to
00:31:44 --> 00:31:46 hit it with another planet but that
00:31:46 --> 00:31:51 brings its own concerns that would
00:31:51 --> 00:31:53 as we spoke about in the last episode.
00:31:53 --> 00:31:55 Although Yeah, indeed. That's right.
00:31:55 --> 00:31:55 Indeed.
00:31:55 --> 00:31:58 >> Wouldn't wouldn't be a good effect. Um
00:31:58 --> 00:32:00 maybe we could employ string theory and
00:32:00 --> 00:32:03 just drag ourselves out there.
00:32:03 --> 00:32:05 >> Who knows? Well, if there's extra hidden
00:32:05 --> 00:32:07 dimensions, we might be able to pop the
00:32:07 --> 00:32:08 Earth into one of them and come out
00:32:08 --> 00:32:11 somewhere else. I think if you did find
00:32:11 --> 00:32:13 a way to move Earth to a better place
00:32:13 --> 00:32:15 when required, you'd have to put people
00:32:15 --> 00:32:18 somewhere else in the meantime. She'd
00:32:18 --> 00:32:20 probably survive the journey on the
00:32:20 --> 00:32:23 planet itself.
00:32:23 --> 00:32:26 A bit tough. Um, but yeah, interesting
00:32:26 --> 00:32:28 question, Thomas. But yes, this South
00:32:28 --> 00:32:30 Koreans did make a movie about this very
00:32:30 --> 00:32:32 concept if you want to look it up. I
00:32:32 --> 00:32:35 can't remember the name. Um, I don't
00:32:35 --> 00:32:38 want to. I didn't I didn't really enjoy
00:32:38 --> 00:32:40 it. It was a weird weird film, but they
00:32:40 --> 00:32:42 do make weird movies in in South Korea,
00:32:42 --> 00:32:45 so it's right up there. They love their
00:32:45 --> 00:32:47 science fiction, though. Um, thanks,
00:32:47 --> 00:32:49 Thomas. Great to hear from you. And if
00:32:49 --> 00:32:51 you have questions for us, please,
00:32:51 --> 00:32:53 please, please go to our website and
00:32:53 --> 00:32:55 click on the ask me anything tab at the
00:32:55 --> 00:32:58 top where you can send us text and audio
00:32:58 --> 00:33:00 questions. Uh, we still struggling to
00:33:00 --> 00:33:02 get audio questions. People don't want
00:33:02 --> 00:33:03 to talk to us, Fred. I think that's what
00:33:03 --> 00:33:07 it comes down to. spaceodcast.com
00:33:07 --> 00:33:09 and spacets.io
00:33:09 --> 00:33:11 are the two URLs that will work. And
00:33:11 --> 00:33:13 while you're there, have a look around.
00:33:13 --> 00:33:17 Um, and and please leave reviews on your
00:33:17 --> 00:33:19 favorite podcasting platform. The more
00:33:19 --> 00:33:21 reviews the better, apparently, unless
00:33:21 --> 00:33:25 they're, you know, one star. Um, don't
00:33:25 --> 00:33:26 really like those, but, you know, you
00:33:26 --> 00:33:29 get the occasional one, I suppose. Uh,
00:33:29 --> 00:33:31 there it is, Fred. Thanks so much. Great
00:33:31 --> 00:33:32 to catch up.
00:33:32 --> 00:33:35 >> It is. Uh, thank you for having me and
00:33:35 --> 00:33:36 um, sorry about all the glitches earlier
00:33:36 --> 00:33:37 on.
00:33:37 --> 00:33:39 >> It's all good. It's all good. Professor
00:33:39 --> 00:33:41 Fred Watson, astronomer at large. We'll
00:33:41 --> 00:33:43 catch him on the next episode and thanks
00:33:43 --> 00:33:45 to Hugh in the studio who couldn't be
00:33:45 --> 00:33:47 with us today because they called him
00:33:47 --> 00:33:49 out to fix the internet. So, he'll be
00:33:49 --> 00:33:52 back in about 300 years. And from me,
00:33:52 --> 00:33:54 Andrew Dunley, thanks for your company.
00:33:54 --> 00:33:55 We'll see you on the next episode of
00:33:55 --> 00:33:57 Space Nuts. Bye-bye.
00:33:57 --> 00:33:59 >> Space Nuts. You've been listening to the
00:33:59 --> 00:34:02 Space Nuts podcast
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